In large volume collating and inserting machines of the type having a series of document feeding stations located above a document transport path, it is well known to feed and collect the documents from some or all of the document feeding stations while collating the same. An envelope stuffing apparatus is located downstream from the feeding stations for stuffing the collated documents into an envelope.
At one time such collating and inserting machines operated on an interrupted basis wherein the collection of documents at the respective feeding stations required the conveying mechanism to come to a full stop. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,049,845, 3,965,644 and 3,934,867. More recently, it is well known that collations can be formed with continuous operation of the conveying mechanism and intermittent operation of the respective feeding stations. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,169,341 and 4,753,429.
Generally, an inserting machine is dedicated for use in forming either a "top down" collation, i.e., documents are fed to the top of a collation conveyed past a feeding station, or a "bottom up" collation, i.e., documents are fed to the transport path and the collation is conveyed onto the document. An example of a "top down" collation is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,341. An example of a "bottom up" collation is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,393.
An essential difference between the feeders feeding to form "top down" collations and feeders feeding to form "bottom down" collations is that each of the former feeders include a platform to which documents are fed until the documents are ready to be conveyed onto a collation being conveyed under the platform. The platform is mounted to the downstream end of the feeder above the transport path so that the document fed by the feeder is supported by the platform above a transport path until a transport mechanism, typically chain driven pushers, conveying a downstream collation engages the document on the platform causing the document to be lowered onto the collation as the collation is transported past the platform. Typically, feeders feeding to form "bottom up" collations do not include a platform because they feed documents directly to the transport deck whereby downstream collations are conveyed on top of the documents.
In some instances, an inserting machine must be converted from assembling "top down" collations to "bottom up" collations, or vice versa. When such a conversion is necessary, a service technician is generally needed to reconfigure the machine. Typically, the platform must be added to the feeding station if "top down" collations are desired, or removed from the feeding station if "bottom up" collations are desired. Such reconfigurations typically include removal of the feeding stations to add or remove the platform, and adjustment of the feeding stations after the platform has been added or removed.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the conversion of the feeders to feed to "top down" and "bottom up" collations.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved platform guide that does not require removal of the feeding station to change between "top down" and "bottom up" collations.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved platform guide which does not require a service technician adjustment.